Valley looked exactly like the No. 1 ranking the Lady Patriots have played behind all season during a 54-41 victory over Neches in a Class 1A state semifinal at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
The Lady Patriots run their unbelievable win streak to 37 straight moving to 37-2 overall. Valley hasn’t lost since a Nov. 7 clash against Tascosa.
Valley will now play in only its second state championship game in school history when they battle New Castle (35-1) in the 1A state championship game at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday.
“It’s been our goal all year to be right where we are,” Valley head coach Amy Bowles said. “I think it would mean the world to our school and community to win a state championship. We have such a great fanbase that travels and really lifts us up. It was great to get this win and now play for a state title.”
In the second half, Valley pushed that advantage to 38-25 after a Reese Cruse 3-ball at the 3:53 mark. After Neches clawed it back to eight, Laney Edwards made it a 10-point lead after three, 43-33, on a jumper to close the quarter.
Neches made one final rally getting back in the contest 45-41 with 5:39 to play following a Valley shooting slump. The Lady Patriots quickly pulled it together ending the game on a 9-0 run over that final 5 plus minutes highlighted by Cruse, Anna Ferrel and Trinity Schlueter.
“Neches is a great team,” Bowles said. “We were able to respond any time they made a run at us and I’m proud of that. Neches is a team that has been here before, so I’m not shocked they came at us pretty strong in the fourth quarter. But we were able to answer and get this win.”
Schlueter nabbed a double-double going for 15 points with 10 rebounds as the junior post finished 6-of-12 from the field. Ferrel had a team-high 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting including four 3-pointers and Cruse added 12 points.
Valley never trailed leading for 31:32 of the game and outscored Neches 30-18 in the paint.